Having a PhD or a master's degree might help you become an expert in your field, but it doesn't help you fly the nest.

The better educated a person is, the less likely they are to break free from their parents and become financially independent in adulthood, according to a new study from North Carolina State University.

By looking at data relating to 6,471 young adults living in the US, researcher Anna Mazoni and her team found 41.4 per cent of those aged 25 to 32 were still reliant on their parents for financial support of some kind.

But by breaking down the group according the level of education, they found those with four or more years of university education were least likely to have financial independence in young adulthood. The results are published in the journal Social Currents.

That said, further education does have financial benefits – they're just not apparent until later in life. "Those who attended four-year colleges and those from higher socioeconomic backgrounds were much more likely to be partially independent in their early 20s," said Manzoni.

"But while those from higher socioeconomic backgrounds tended to be stuck in that state of partial independence, people who attended college were more likely to become financially independent as they reached their late 20s and early 30s."

In terms of moving back in with parents, those who funded their own education were less likely to return to the nest.

“People whose parents supported them financially throughout college were also more likely to move back in with their parents at some point,” Mazoni added.